Furnace for producing glass.



To all whom t may conc-ern:

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

COMPANY, OF PARKERSBURG, GINIA.

i DANIELS. .BEEBE, OF PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, .ASSIGNOR TO THE VITROLITE `WEST VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION 0F WEST VIR- FUENACE Fon rRoDUcING GLASS.,

Specicationlof Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2G, 1916.

Application filed December 11,- 1914. Serial No. 876,621.

Be it known that I, DANIEL S. BEEBE, a

vcitizen of the United States. residing at Parkersburg, county7 of II/vood, State of Test Virginia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement 1n Furnaces for Producing Glass, and declare thefollowing to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, suoli as' will enable others skilled in the art to which 'it pertains to make and yuse the same, reference being had to the acl companying drawings, which form a part of thls specification.

IVhen a batch comprising the various ma-` lowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a vertical section, diagram- 1 furnace of the usual kind for melting glass forming constituents.. In accordance with my inventlon I form 1n the bottom of the furnace, at any suitable point therein, a well terials from which white or colored glass is made has been heated to the proper temperature to bring the bulk of the mass into the proper condition for use, there still remains an appreciable quantity of materlal which is known as green, and which cannot be used without giving an imperfect product.

-As it is impossible successfully to heat the entire mass until perfect homogeneity is obtained and, since the green portion of the batch is denserthan the remainder and therefore Settles to the bottom of the furnace, the practice is to skim the material Ifrom the top of the batch as it 1s used, until -finally the green material is reached,

whereupon the furnace is emptied and a new batch made. The ordinary glass (white or colored) furnace is long and broad but comparatively shallow so that if care is eX- ercised in dipping out the material, a long broad layer of molten glass fit for immediate use must be left above the green material in order to:y insure that the ladle will not dip up some of the latter. The percentage of waste material inan ordinary batch, particularly for` colored glass, that 1s glass other than transparent, is therefore very great. l Tj The object of my invention is to produce an improved furnace by means of which the amount of waste due to separation of the green material is made very much less than heretofore.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity 1n the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the folor catch basin, 2, andcause, the floor, 3, to slope fromv all 'directions .toward the well or catch basin. The capacity of the well or catch basin is made such that it will contain all of the denser material which settles to the bottom of a batch of the size for which the furnace is designed, that is to say from two to four per cent. of'the batch. In fact,

it will usually be found preferable to make the well or catch basin slightly larger than is necessary to hold the green material.

IVhen a batch of glass forming material is fused in the' furnace, the dense green material settles to the bottom and, because of the sloping floor in the furnace, it gravitates toward the well or catch basin and set-' tles therein. The result is that all of the fused material above the floor line of the furnacev is it for use and the furnace can therefore be completely emptied to. supply casting tables or for other commercial purposes, without paying any particular attention to the green material since this will all be containedin the well or catch basin. By giving a slight excess capacity to the well or catch basin, the uppermost .layerl casioned by the separation of the green materia1 is greatly reduced, the waste inthe old type of furnace of the same capacity and working un'der the same conditions as n iy batch of glass for which the furnace is de,- improved furnace being often eight or ten signed, 'the floor of the furnace sloping times as great. f A

' f' catch basin.'

downwardly in the direction. of said well or i 5 1 A furnace of the' character described 4. A furnace of the "character described having in thebottom thereof a well or catch having in the bottom thereofa well or ,catch basin,' .the floor of the furnace sloping basin of a capacity slightly greaterthannecdownwardly in the direction of said well or essary to contain the green material which .catch basin. o f v remains afterA the usual fusing of a batch-of 10 2. A furnace of the character described, glass for which the furnace is designed, vthe having in the bottoni thereof a well ,or'catch fioor of the furnace' sloping downwardly in basin. having a small cross-sectional area the direction of said Well or catch basin,' the com ared with thearea of the furnace and mouth of the well or catch basin having. an havlnga capacity equal to only a few per area which is only a small fraction of the 15 cent. of the capacity of the furnace, the oorcross sectional area of the furnace.

-of-the furnace sloping downwardly toward; y In'testimonywhereof I sign this specifi: said ielor. catch ib'asln. l .b cation in the presence of two .witnesses` 3. urnace o vt e c iaracter escri e l .having in the bottom thereof a ,well orcatch DANIEL S 20 'basin of a capacity slightly greater than Witnesses: v

necessary to contain the'. green materialV v T. H. MCKINLEY,- which Vremains after the usual fusing of a CHAs. A. .l 

